- Interviews
Mental health with Farah Liz Pallaro
Who are you, where are you from and where in the world are you now?
Who are you is a good question , My name is Farah Liz, that is all I know for now,…. I may tell you that I am an author, and educator and a mentor, but that is not who I am, as we move forward into more awareness of what life is about, we all struggle with the label we create as part of our society identity, don’t we? So I will say, Farah Liz, I was born in Italy but lived in many countries, and now I am living in the beautiful Lake of Como.
How do you think the fashion industry affects mental health?
Unfortunately, very much. It doesn’t only affect the professionals involved but also the consumers.
Fashion is a “wants” industry, it’s all about focusing on selling as much products as possible to you. And for this, it creates the illusion that you NEED those products. So it develops communication and branding strategies based most of the time on EGO and status, to push you to buy that illusion. This is something many other industries do as well, not just fashion, but I will say that specially after globalisation, fashion became a very commercial driven industry.
Of course not all the fashion industry is like this, like I mention in my book, there are “heart driven “ companies that focus on serving people, not exploiting them.
What are your tips to look after your mental health (especially when working in the fashion industry)?
In my book, I created a simple but very useful pull of wellbeing techniques that you can implement in your every day practice.
I often encourage my clients and community to search and use the ones that resonate the most with them.
For example, I make sure I balance the amount of work, with the amount of rest, the amount of “me time” and the amount of “others “ I give on a daily bases. Some days I need to give more to one area compare to the other and that is fine, but I make sure I make decisions consciously, and I am not operating on “auto-pilot” or survival mode.
How often do you take some “me time”? Any wellbeing rituals?
It is crucial, so I make sure I do it everyday. I wake up early and practice either meditation or Self-Hypnosis and then Asana practice. After that I always walk with my dog and just after I start the day. In the evening, I stop watching TV and/or the phone at 8pm. Then, I have dinner early and read before sleep. How you go to sleep is super important as well as to go early, because it will alter your energy for the next day.
What does intuition mean to you? And do you follow it often?
Its been said that “intuition is God speaking to you”, and I do believe so. ….. life/god/the universe/light, however you wish to call that system of intelligence, it’s always communicating with us, in the form of synchronicities, intuition, life experiences and others…
I learn to follow my intuition as much as possible, even when it makes no sense (must confess that this is the case most of the time !) but like I say, it is our internal GPS, it always lead us to the right direction.
You can find her book “Fashion, Business and Spirituality” here.
Follow Farah Liz Pallaro on Instagram.